Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for November 16, 2006 FAR FROM URBAN LEGENDS

Stop me if you've heard this one before...

When I first saw this story yesterday, my thought was "Forget this!"...or words to that effect. Seems like every @#$% day, you see a headline about failing public schools. Enough already...we got the message...years ago!

Almighty President Bush...forgive me for I have sinned!

And it's always our fault...poor teacher training...nonaligned curriculum...high teacher turnover...whatever.

The politicians always broadcast the symptoms...the failing test scores. They dance around the disease...because they don't know how to fix it...and know that it would cost a fortune...even more than the war in Iraq.

The media will chime in repeatedly with demographics...the poor, minorities, urban school dwellers, etc. Unfortunately, they provide a bully pulpit for politicians to pass the buck and beat up on educators...the untrained, uncaring, low-life leaches on the public dole that we are.

Yes...professional training is important. Yes...teaching necessary skills (whatever they are at this minute in time) is important. BUT...until students are given "hope"...the motivation to learn that which is delivered in the classroom everyday by the trained, caring, public school teachers that we are...no progress will be made.

We read/see in the news everyday stories of skilled, high-paying jobs leaving the United States. We read/see in the news...especially in the wake of last week's elections...of the bitter battle to raise the federal minimum wage from its current level of $5.15 per hour. This is news that should surely inspire students in the cities and elsewhere to strive to learn! (Sarcasm fully intended!)

We read/see stories of "trained professionals" in India and elsewhere - the "Tutors R Us" - ready to make up for our deficiencies at a couple of bucks an hour. No wonder that the "best and the brightest" are lining up to enroll in colleges and universities everywhere to become teachers! (Yeah...that was sarcasm also!)

We - and I'm talking Pre-K - 12 students AND Pre-K - 12 educators - need hope and inspiration! We do NOT need an "Education President" who mangles the very English language that he demands be taught exclusively in public schools where the enrollments are increasingly foreign born. We do NOT need wind-surfing Democratic candidates who don't even have the ability to deliver a joke without creating a political firestorm. We need the likes of John F. Kennedy or Martin Luther King Jr. - before modern media standards stripped them of their privacy and dignity. (Of course, that last sentence is one of the main reasons we get the likes of George W. Bush and John Kerry! Who with any sense would run for the job?!)

And speaking of "teacher accountability"...as they always do.

DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT...UNTIL the politicians implement a fair-funding method that provides equal education facilities and materials for ALL students...not just the children lucky enough to be born in the suburbs...or whose parents are wealthy enough to move there. (The media touts schools with the latest multimedia gidgets and gadgets, schools with swimming pools, schools with lacrosse teams...while, in Cairo, we hope the Internet is working today, are greeted in September with local media reports of our abandoned, weedy football field, and PRAY that another business doesn't close or that we don't get hurt when another building falls down!)

DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT...UNTIL parents keep their kids home at night...turn off the TV and audio/video toys...sit down with them for a couple of hours...study...or just talk.

And, most importantly, DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT...UNTIL the kids - who by all reports are failing miserably - are ALSO HELD ACCOUNTABLE! (What kind of silly system goes to great lengths to publicize that teachers will be fired if students don't pass a test...but imposes no penalty on the student who often ELECTS TO FAIL...especially since the student has been given a reason to fail!!!)

AMEN!

Whew!

I REALLY did mean to just post this article. Sorry about the tirade...but at least I feel better!

Bye...for now.

Promise...I'll try to find something light and up-lifting for the next edition. Maybe find another corporate sponsor!

From the Washington Post...

Urban Students Perform Worse at Science

By NANCY ZUCKERBROD
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Children in major U.S. cities perform worse than other students around the country on science tests given in elementary and middle school, a snapshot released by the government Wednesday shows.

Ten urban school districts volunteered to take the tests and have their scores compared to public school students nationwide for the first time.

Fourth-graders in nine of the 10 city districts had lower average scores than public school students nationally. The only exception was Austin, Texas, where they performed at the national average.

In eighth grade, all 10 urban districts had average scores below the national average.

The science scores are from the 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress, a test given nationwide periodically on a range of subjects. It is viewed as the best way to compare student achievement across state and district lines.

Besides Austin, the urban districts that participated in the comparative look were: Atlanta; Boston; Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago; Cleveland; Houston; Los Angeles; New York and San Diego.

The districts enroll a disproportionately large share of minorities, children who have limited English ability, and children from low-income families. Taking this into account, the results showed minorities in the city schools often performed similarly to students with the same backgrounds in the national sample.

The topics covered on the tests include earth science, physics, chemistry and biology.

The new scores emphasize how much room for improvement remains across a range of urban districts _ just as is the case for most of the nation's schools.

Nationally, for example, just a little more than a quarter of students in both grades could handle challenging subject matter _ a skill level educators call "proficient".

Among the city schools, only Austin had about that proportion of students testing at that level in both grades, with Charlotte not far behind.

Cleveland had the smallest percentage of fourth- and eighth-grade students who were proficient _ no more than 6 percent.

Fourth-graders working at a proficient level can relate the relative amount of time a candle burns to the amount of air available. Proficient eighth-graders can identify the energy conversions that occur in an electric fan.

Nationally, 34 percent of fourth-graders fell into the bottom achievement category, unable to perform at even a "basic" level. That category also applied to 43 percent of eighth-graders.

The urban districts all had more students in the lowest-scoring category than the nationwide sample.

Chicago and Los Angeles had the most fourth-graders in that group, with 65 percent falling below basic levels.

Atlanta fared the worst among eighth-graders, with 78 percent of students recording below basic scores.

Gerry Wheeler, executive director of the National Science Teacher Association, called the report discouraging.

"There's no way these young adults are going to be able to survive in this scientific and technological society," Wheeler said. He cited high teacher turnover and a lack of emphasis on teacher training as problems in urban school districts.

The government could not point to specific trends for the urban group, since this was the first time those cities have volunteered to have their scores put under a microscope.

The national science scores were released earlier this year and showed improvements among elementary school children nationwide in science since 2000, but not among middle and high school students.

"We need to devote more time and energy to science instruction, not just in the cities but nationwide, because nobody has much bragging rights on science performance anywhere in the country," said Michael Casserly, executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools _ a coalition of urban public school systems.

Casserly said the test results demonstrate a need for national standards in science to clarify what students are expected to know. The group also is advocating national standards for reading and math.

Urban students generally also scored lower than students nationwide in reading and math on national tests given last year.

The No Child Left Behind law, which Congress passed in 2001, requires states to administer their own assessments in math and reading, with penalties for schools that fail to improve.

State science testing under the law will begin in the 2007-08 school year, although schools will not face consequences for their performance _ something President Bush wants Congress to change.

The new report of lackluster performance underscores a deep concern among political and business executives who see eroding science achievement as a threat to the U.S. economy.